I don't know enough about the construction to be sure. What I can say is that I have several 'sale' shoes with square waists, where no effort to raise and shape the waist has been made at all. That suggests it's not essential but rather a finishing detail?

probably this gets lost in translation. finish for my understanding is everything about the treatment of the leather.

a fiddleback is a construction detail. you have to distinguish between bespoke and rtw/mtm

in the latter it's a "cheating" version of the bespoke, where it is built up from the welt.

there was a good documentation on a german forum, but the lady took away all the pictures. it would be a guess, if bengal stripe has them on his harddisk.

Adelaide group shot for your viewing pleasure...[Photo's taken on wife's compact camera so not great I'm afraid] These represent the most effective and instantaneous therapy I have ever experienced. My shoe guilt has been released. I am cleansed. Thank you for setting me free, jjl.

This is amazingly common on this forum. It's like people who buy Porsches and never drive them. It's a cryin' shame, not to mention a terrible waste. Still, those shoes are impressive. A bit redundant, but impressive.